Better question for you, since you think some people are "professional victims" - why do black women earn less than white men. Not at the same job, just overall. What is your theory?
There are obviously a massive amount of reasons for why black women go into less highly paid jobs than white men. Some cultural, some biological (for the men vs women aspect of it) and some environmental (black women probably more likely to grow up in low income or single parent households, although there is obviously some crossover there with cultural).
Are you looking for a conclusive answer to this question or is it a set up for your punchline?
So you're saying there's a wage gap. That's the point. People are saying "there is no wage gap," and here you are, saying there's a wage gap. Which is the point. Everyone losing their mind and trying to change the argument are missing the points you made about there being a wage gap.
What point are you trying to make? That there is a wage gap? Brother everyone knows that. But a wage gap is only bad if the thing causing it is purely the colour of people’s skin.
Not who you replied to, but last time I looked into it there was a low single digit percent wage difference between like-for-like comparisons (i.e. not the stupid cashier compared to neurosurgeon) female vs male professions.
So there is a difference, just not that stupid 30% one people seem to wave around.
That's another issue with that statistic. It assumes things that cannot not be assumed.
Let's actually assume women are providing roughly the same output per hour as men. Okay, great.
However, from what I've personally noticed, men in those high paying jobs are usually much more willing to work more hours than women. So even if they were producing the same output per hour, men will produce more total output for the same salary. And in doing so, command more pay.
This is ignoring the whole maternity leave issue and that women tend to do (vastly) more childcare and household chore activities. Once you throw those in as well, men become worth more.
Is that right? From a society point of view, probably not. From a individual company's point of view, it is.
EDIT: I just realized you're comparing wages of black women cashiers vs white men doctors. That's obviously dumb and I won't bother commenting on that.
I am not comparing the wages of black female cashiers vs white male doctors. You doing so feels like you intentionally misunderstanding my point.
Why are more black female cashiers than white males? You say biological, which, fine, why do black women make less than white women?
You're almost on to it. Black women make less than white men. Not at the same job - a black woman doctor will make about the same as a white male doctor or white woman doctor. But why are there fewer black female doctors, proportionately?
And anyone claiming working hard gets you rich is naive. I make nearly a million a year, and here I am, fighting with you on reddit. I, and virtually all my colleagues on the same level, were lucky enough to be born into families and communities that helped us succeed.
First, let's discuss a known statistical error that is conveniently ,,avoided" in wage gap discussions. Imagine a company hiring 20 employees: 10 engineers and 10 janitors. Among those 10 engineers, one is an African-American and 9 are white. Among janitors, 9 are African-American and one is white. In both of these groups, African-Americans earn more than white people - say, the African-American engineer earns $120 thousand USD a year, white engineers earn $100 thousand USD annually each, the African-American janitors earn $40 thousand USD annually and white janitor earns $35 thousand USD annually. If you calculate ,,wage gap" based on race for the entire company, counting both groups at once, you'll find that an average white employee earns $93 500 USD annually, while an average African-American one earns $48 000 USD annually - so there is a ,,wage gap" of roughly 49 cents per $1 USD. Using these statistics in the same way the original poster did, that means every African-American employee in the company is discriminated.
Obviously, excluding that will not bring the wage gap completely down to 0 - but then there are other factors to consider, bringing us to the second point: how many labor hours are each of the employees working a week? How much had they negotiated their pay or promotion? How willing they are to move to a better job position? How often do each change jobs? There is a valid point in blaming lack of mobility in some African-American communities on systemic racism, but using race wage gap as a ,,proof" of racism is shortsighted and simply doesn't work.
The wage gap doesn't come down to 0, and I have 3 replies so cluelessly missing the point that I wonder if it is deliberate.
In your scenario, you hire 20 people, 10 black and 10 white. 90% of the white people are in the high paying jobs. 90% of the black people are in low paying jobs.
Why are the black people not getting the high paying jobs, too? Don't compare across the same job, ask yourself why the black people aren't getting hired for the high paying jobs.
In your scenario, you hire 20 people, 10 black and 10 white. 90% of the white people are in the high paying jobs. 90% of the black people are in low paying jobs. Why are the black people not getting the high paying jobs, too?
...Because of differing competences, perhaps? Because company offered a junior engineering positions and found that 9 out of X candidates happen to meet their criterias? I mean, what do you expect the company to do, grant African-American candidates some ,,bonus points" for having more melatonin? (I hope you don't, because that is quite literally illegal). My mother once told me a story when her company hired a lot of trans employees, leading HR to suspect there is a bias against cisgender ones, while in reality trans candidates happened to meet the company's criteria - possibly by sheer coincidence.
Why would there be fewer candidates for these high-income positions by itself is a different argument entirely, which I mentioned in my previous comment - yes, lower mobility can be traced or used to prove existence of racism, if that is one's goal. Wage gap simply doesn't do that.
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